Yes, that’s right – I’m headed back to Africa! I can’t tell you how incredibly excited I am – in less than 2 weeks I will be half a world away! Here are the details – as promised:
Training Camp
June 1 – June 7
June 1 I will “disappear” (so to speak) to training camp. I’ll meet my team and my co-leader and I will be with them day and night for the week. (So if you don’t hear from me through phone, email, etc – know that’s why). We’ll be spending time in prayer, teaching sessions, and doing team-building exercises. Please pray against exhaustion (as we’ll have long days and nights), bugs (fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes are crazy here right now, and we’ll be out in the woods), the heat and the weather. Pray for good health for us all, safety, and that God would begin to unify us together as a team of brothers and sisters. Pray for my co-leader and I as we practice servant leadership – pray God will lead through us every moment.
My team is made up of myself, my co-leader, 1 guy and 12 girls – age 18 – 21. If you’d like to pray for my team by name – here they are:
Micah Brooks Kenszala Perry
Rachelle Canada Rebekah Talkington
Laura Duncan Alyssa-Laine Vanderslice
Kendall Haydel (our brave guy) Brittanie Weimer
Michenzie Motl Megan Weinhandl
Vanessa Murphy Christin Wilson
South Africa
June 8 – July 2
June 8th our team flies to South Africa! 20+ hours in the air. We’ll be living in Jeffrey’s Bay (on the coast) – where it’s wintertime already!
We’ll be doing ministry in the townships (slums) of Jeffrey’s Bay. I’ve been told that the city is really nice, but when you walk into the township, you’re right in rural Africa – people living in packing crates and other makeshift homes. I’ve also been told it’s like the US during segregation – because of the Apartheid, the black and white South Africans still don’t love and accept one another. This is the atmosphere we’ll be living and serving in.
We’ll be serving the ‘least of these’ – ministering to the people and the children in the townships. I’m excited to see how the Lord will lead us in this ministry!
Please pray for myself and my team:
- Protection from the enemy
- Safety – in travel and daily while we’re there (South Africa is the 2nd most dangerous country in the world!)
- Good health
- Sweet sleep (I always have nightmares on mission trips)
- Unity
- Love, Patience, and Grace for one another
- Submission
- Willingness to listen and obey the Lord
- Sensitivity to the Spirit
- For the Holy Spirit to fill each of us everyday
- Ministry opportunities
- Wisdom & Discernment – for ministry and for safety
- Spiritual Growth
Please pray for me and my co-leader:
- Wisdom & Discernment
- Clarity
- Servant’s hearts
- God’s guidance and direction
- God’s authority
- A great co-leader relationship (that we would work well together and that God would use us as a team)
- For HIM to move through us – so that we are leading every moment as He would have us lead
July 1 my team will fly back to the US, and I’ll stay behind for 2 days to rest before heading out to SWAZILAND!
Swaziland
July 3 – July 13
July 3rd I will finally fly back to Swaziland, to the place and the people who captured my heart one year ago. I’ll be there for 8 days, serving as much as I can in that short time. I’ll be serving and blessing the teams we have there, as well as our staff. I’m planning to visit The Nsoko Project – to see first hand the orphan village we are building that I’m working to secure funding for. I’ll spend time with the children, the gogo’s, and the Pastor we have in charge – ministering there as well as interviewing them and getting video and pictures to share when I come home. I also hope to visit some of the people I built relationship with last year. There is so much to do in such a short time! My heart is broken for Swaziland, and I am praying for God to show me how He wants me to be His hands and feet while I’m there.
I leave Swaziland July 12, and will be back home (good and jet-lagged, ha) July 13.
Before I leave, I’ll be sharing a few stories on here from my time in Swaziland last summer.
I ask that you consider these prayer requests, and please lift them up on my behalf. You are all such incredible prayer warriors – you have faithfully prayed for me as I served in Africa and India and those prayers were SO evident while I was overseas! Please don’t stop!
I love you all and am so thankful for you!
